Rick Hawn, Patricky Freire Get Bellator Lightweight Tournament Opponents
by Josh Nason on Feb 12, 2012 9:30 AM EST
in Bellator News
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With no Eddie Alvarez in the upcoming Bellator 155-pound tournament and with no chance at a rematch with current champion Michael Chandler, eight men will take a shot at creating their own fight of the year candidate with the champ starting at March 23rd's Bellator 62 in Laredo, TX.
Patricky Freire vs. Lloyd Woodard
Freire (10-2, 3-1 Bellator) lost to Chandler by unanimous decision in his first tournament after knockout wins over Rob McCullough and Toby Imada. He returned to the winner's circle with a first round knockout of Kurt Pellegrino in November and is one of the favorites to win the tourney.
While Woodard (11-1, 1-1 Bellator) isn't a big name among today's lightweight crop, his only career loss was to Chandler and he has finished nine of his 11 opponents.
Hawn (11-1, 3-1 Bellator) drops to lightweight for the first time after advancing to the welterweight finals last spring. The U.S. Olympian in judo has shown power in seven T/KO wins, but has had three straight fights go the distance. He faces Tirloni (14-1, 1-0 Bellator), who enters the tournament on an 11-fight win streak. Like many fellow Bellator fighters, the Brazilian is a finisher with 12 victories by submission or T/KO.
Brent Weedman vs. J.J. Ambrose
Weedman (18-7, 4-2 Bellator) is getting an opportunity despite two straight defeats. After winning his first four fights in the promotion, Weedman picked up decision losses to Jay Hieron and Chris Lozano and is dropping to lightweight to help turn it around. Ambrose (17-3-0-1) makes his promotional debut on a seven-fight win streak with nine overall wins by submission.
After running his record to 10-0 amidst a flurry of first round finishes, Nazare (10-1, 3-1 Bellator) was handed his first career loss last October. Despite that, he gets his first tournament opportunity against Michel (9-2), who is making his promotional debut with two straight wins. The Brazilian has finished all of his wins via T/KO and has been submitted in both of his career losses.
The event starts at 8 PM EST on MTV 2.
Other recent Bellator news on BE:
- Zach Makovsky To Defend 135-Pound Title In April
- Report: Eddie Alvarez, Bellator Contract Extension Talk Not Going Well
- Ben Askren Vs. Douglas Lima Set For April 6
- Ben Saunders, Brian Foster headline 170-pound tourney
- Prindle vs. Santos, 185-pound brackets announced
- 145-pound tournament matches announced
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I'm a huge Rick Hawn fan
looking forward to seeing how he does at LW. Hawn vs. Patricky Freire could be a barnburner.
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Agreed
That is the fight I hope we see in the finals. Hawn or Freire gives Chandler a good fight.
by discoandherpes on Feb 12, 2012 12:49 PM EST up reply actions
Tirloni is a very good fighter, and I am looking forward to Hawn vs Tirloni.
Nazare disappointed me in his last fight against Jacob Kirwan as he seemed way too content to stay on his back when taken down in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. It surprises me that Nazare gets entry into this tourney, but Kirwan doesn’t.
I expect Freire to beat Woodard.
Weedman never looked like a small Welterweight (Hawn did), and I’m surprised that he’s able to make this cut. He is a solid fighter, but seeing who else is in the tourney, I don’t expect him to win this.
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Except for HW, Bellator’s tournament quarter finals are invariably packed with great fights. By the time this tournament gets to the semi’s there should be some fantastic matchups. Psyched.
Melvin and I say: Please visit
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I wish Bellator got rid of MW, LHW, and HW
And just ran more WW, LW, FW, and BW tournaments. Those brackets are always fire.
by discoandherpes on Feb 12, 2012 12:50 PM EST up reply actions
I agree about HW, but the other classes could develop into something decent over time. Bellator has to be looking ahead to 2013, when they might actually be able to run more tournaments if they get more air time than the two hours they currently get. To be honest, I’m not even willing to bet that they’ll still be around in 2013, and I’m a major Bellator fan.
Melvin and I say: Please visit
http://danieljamesmillerfoundation.wordpress.com/how-to-donate/
There is no one at LHW worth caring about
And the MW tournament is just a race to see who is going to lose to Lombard.
by discoandherpes on Feb 12, 2012 2:07 PM EST up reply actions
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